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The female mayor in Tokyo fighting Japan's sexist attitudes – BBC

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Mayor of Suginami YouTube channel

Satoko Kishimoto finds running one of Tokyo’s main districts to be a lonely job.

Back in June, the 48-year-old became the first female mayor in the history of Suginami. The former environmental activist and democracy advocate managed to beat the conservative incumbent by just 200 votes – a shock win for an independent candidate with no experience holding public office.

Since then she has vowed to challenge the country’s male-dominated politics. As things stand, she is one of only three female mayors in Tokyo’s 23 main districts.

“We have to recognise as a national crisis this under-representation of women in politics,” Ms Kishimoto said.

“Women’s representation has stayed almost the same for 75 years. This is insane!”

Japan is the world’s third largest economy, but it has an abysmal record when it comes to the gender gap index. In the most recent report released by the World Economic Forum in July 2022, Japan ranked 116th out of 146 countries.

It is the worst performing G7 nation when it comes to gender issues. The country has never had a female prime minister, and there are only two women in the current cabinet.

I met Ms Kishimoto for the first time as she cycled into Suginami City Hall building for work – unusual for an average Japanese politician.

She tells me the first few months on the job have been a rough ride.

“As a fairly young woman… [this job] is automatically difficult,” she said.

“I’m not from bureaucracy, I’m not a politician. When I speak, people listen. But they’re not so easily convinced.”

By people, she means the men she works with. In her own district, most of the senior political posts below that of mayor are held by men.

“Issues like climate change, diversity, gender equality have been challenged by older politics – by the boys’ club politics.”

She tells me it’s frustrating for her and her staff.

“I really want to debate policies. But [a lot of] time is wasted in the city council addressing criticism and personal attacks.”

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BBC
Women’s representation has stayed almost the same for 75 years. This is insane!
Satoko Kishimoto
Mayor of Suginami

This criticism is mostly about her gender but also her credentials and the fact that she doesn’t have the relevant experience. Essentially, she’s been abroad for too long – for the last 20 years she’s lived in Europe.

Ms Kishimoto is the first to admit that she’s an outsider but that this is part of her strength. “I have something else. I have looked at the Japanese society from a distance.” She added that this “international eye” has allowed her to view Japan’s challenges objectively – especially the stark contradictions in her country.

But even though she feels motivated by her job and the power she has to make change, she has felt moments of regret. “Sometimes, I say to myself, ‘What am I doing here?'”

Traditional social norms that still expect women to do the bulk of care and housework make it very difficult for them to pursue a career in politics, Ms Kishimoto added.

Other women who have also braved the political terrain tell me they often have to deal with misogyny and harassment.

Tomomi Higashi is a local council member in Tokyo’s Machida district, and was recently re-elected for a second term.

“I was most surprised by the physical harassment,” Ms Higashi said – saying there were times when she was touched inappropriately during the early days of campaigning. “I was shocked.”

“Being showered with insults by old men. [Men] coming very close to me and interrupting my speeches. Being asked to come for drinks at midnight. That’s when I really felt the male-dominated society. It was a wake-up call for me,” she said.

Tomomi Higashi has joined a group of other female local politicians, lawyers and researchers who started a website called Harassment Consultation Centre for Women in Politics.

They’re hoping their confidential online sessions can provide a safety net for women getting into politics.

Mari Hamada, a political researcher and one of the founders, said that while many surveys indicate the prevalence of harassment for female politicians, it’s very hard to get accurate numbers because most women are reluctant to speak out.

“In Japan, politicians are considered public figures and they are told to endure harassment,” Ms Hamada said.

Mana Tamura, the other founder of the website who ran for local office in 2022, said that she was told she wasn’t allowed to bring her three-year-old son campaigning.

“I couldn’t walk with my son, hold his hand or push the pram.” She was told this was against the rules.

“When I was on the street some men would say things like ‘Have you even given birth?’ or ‘Why don’t you run when you’ve had three kids?'”

“I was told not to make a fuss. I started thinking it was my fault,” Ms Tamura said.

A recent survey by Japan’s Kyodo news agency found that female politicians and leaders are more likely to face gender biases and sexual harassment than their male counterparts.

The government has been regularly criticised for not doing enough to encourage more women to get into politics – with some arguing that the male-dominated cabinet and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are part of the problem.

In 2021 the LDP – who’ve been in power almost uninterrupted since 1955 – proposed allowing five female lawmakers to join its board meetings as observers – under the condition that they stay silent during meetings.

The proposal came after sexist comments made by the former Tokyo Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori – who briefly served as prime minister at the start of the millennium. He was quoted as saying women talk too much and that meetings with many female board directors would “take a lot of time”. He later apologised.

“The LDP is responsible for the status of the gender inequality in Japan,” Ms Kishimoto said. “They have not prioritised the issue. The political will is just not there. This is very embarrassing.”

Ms Kishimoto doesn’t just blame the ruling party, but also the voters who have kept them in power for so long.

She says despite all the difficulties she’s still optimistic that one day Japan could have a female leader. “I don’t know if it’ll be in the near future,” she said.

“But I’m hopeful. We can’t get any worse. The only way is up and ahead,” she laughs.

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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